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jeanettesreadingcorner's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
- this book is so intriguing and thought provoking! I spent any free time I had reading because I really couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I devoured Little Fires Everywhere.
- There are so many characters and inter woven storylines. It wasn’t hard to keep track and all of them were interesting.
- I enjoyed how the author broached topics like motherhood, relationships, adoption, surrogacy, abortion, racism, and a seemingly utopian society. All of this while still keeping the characters and their stories engaging.
- The metaphorical writing! Using elements of nature or just about anything to describe the emotions of the characters was wonderful to read.
- It’s a little slow in the beginning but once you get to the know the characters and the plot picks up, it’s completely worth the wait. I’m so happy I grabbed this book from a Little Free Library!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Death, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, and Racism
grizzlysnack's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Abandonment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Car accident, and Miscarriage
minniepauline's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Medical content, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
skyba3's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Classism
Moderate: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Infertility, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Child death
angelofthetardis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Mia and Pearl live a nomadic life, directed by Mia's artistic temperament. Carrying only what they can fit in a VW Rabbit, they arrive in the idyllic Shaker Heights. Meanwhile, Elena Richardson and her family embody everything the town represents, so when they see a chance to help people less fortunate than themselves, they take it. But as their lives become intertwined, the two families start to discover things about each other that could end up setting their entire world alight...
This is definitely a step outside my usual genre. Technically, the book is very well written and very easy to read; the author's use of contrast, imagery and description really give the story depth and a bit of a dark edge, and I can appreciate why it seems a popular choice and why it's been made into a TV series. However, the story itself seems to me to reflect the setting; meticulously planned, a pleasant place to be, but where not too much interesting or exciting happens. The expectation is set quite high at the outset, but the payoff never really materialises.
From a non-US perspective, this feels like the epitome of white middle class America, and I just don't get it. Sure, a nice big house with a garden in a good neighbourhood is totally understandable, but I just can't get my head around the fact that people actually aspire to live in places like Shaker Heights. So immediately I struggled to get into the story because I cannot relate to the community at large at all.
In terms of characterisation, I think Mrs Richardson in particular is very reflective of that same white middle class privilege that perhaps blinds us to our own prejudices. She is so keen to show that she's accepting, charitable, open-minded... but only when you fit into her world without a problem. Disturb the status quo and immediately you're not welcome. There's nothing overtly wrong with what she thinks day to day, but her world view is skewed by the community in which she's been raised. When you compare her to Mia, Bebe and even her own daughters (especially Izzy), she actually comes across as quite a two dimensional, Stepford Wives style character, whom again I could not get invested in.
Motherhood is a huge theme throughout the book, in all its forms. Each mother is judged in some way; from letting fear turn a relationship sour, to whether money is as important as love when you're raising a child. To me, it seems that every mother is doing their best with what they have, save again for Mrs Richardson, who recognises that there's a problem but does nothing to try and change it. I will be honest, there were moments where I wanted to stop reading as, while I have no particular triggers, the subject matter is quite emotive and I did find certain scenes hard to get through.
I was expecting a lot of different things to what was actually delivered, so in that respect Incan say this book was, if not full of shock twists and turns, then certainly not as predictable as you might think. In particular, I was waiting for quite the denouement, as the events did seem to be building towards something big. But the ending left me very disappointed; it just gently tails off. Until the last few pages, I was going to give this a 4 star rating despite it not being my cup of tea. The only thing I can see is that the author has left it wide open for a sequel, which could work as there are plenty of plot lines that could be extended easily and the rounded off to a proper conclusion. I suspect that even if the author does write one, the producers of the TV version will be happy to run with it!
Interesting and not something I regret reading, but just a little too far outside my comfort zone to be properly enjoyable.
This is definitely a step outside my usual genre. Technically, the book is very well written and very easy to read; the author's use of contrast, imagery and description really give the story depth and a bit of a dark edge, and I can appreciate why it seems a popular choice and why it's been made into a TV series. However, the story itself seems to me to reflect the setting; meticulously planned, a pleasant place to be, but where not too much interesting or exciting happens. The expectation is set quite high at the outset, but the payoff never really materialises.
From a non-US perspective, this feels like the epitome of white middle class America, and I just don't get it. Sure, a nice big house with a garden in a good neighbourhood is totally understandable, but I just can't get my head around the fact that people actually aspire to live in places like Shaker Heights. So immediately I struggled to get into the story because I cannot relate to the community at large at all.
In terms of characterisation, I think Mrs Richardson in particular is very reflective of that same white middle class privilege that perhaps blinds us to our own prejudices. She is so keen to show that she's accepting, charitable, open-minded... but only when you fit into her world without a problem. Disturb the status quo and immediately you're not welcome. There's nothing overtly wrong with what she thinks day to day, but her world view is skewed by the community in which she's been raised. When you compare her to Mia, Bebe and even her own daughters (especially Izzy), she actually comes across as quite a two dimensional, Stepford Wives style character, whom again I could not get invested in.
Motherhood is a huge theme throughout the book, in all its forms. Each mother is judged in some way; from letting fear turn a relationship sour, to whether money is as important as love when you're raising a child. To me, it seems that every mother is doing their best with what they have, save again for Mrs Richardson, who recognises that there's a problem but does nothing to try and change it. I will be honest, there were moments where I wanted to stop reading as, while I have no particular triggers, the subject matter is quite emotive and I did find certain scenes hard to get through.
I was expecting a lot of different things to what was actually delivered, so in that respect Incan say this book was, if not full of shock twists and turns, then certainly not as predictable as you might think. In particular, I was waiting for quite the denouement, as the events did seem to be building towards something big. But the ending left me very disappointed; it just gently tails off. Until the last few pages, I was going to give this a 4 star rating despite it not being my cup of tea. The only thing I can see is that the author has left it wide open for a sequel, which could work as there are plenty of plot lines that could be extended easily and the rounded off to a proper conclusion. I suspect that even if the author does write one, the producers of the TV version will be happy to run with it!
Interesting and not something I regret reading, but just a little too far outside my comfort zone to be properly enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Abortion, Abandonment, and Infertility
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Death
my_a's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Infertility, and Classism
Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, and Cancer
alisonfaith426's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Car accident, Cancer, and Cursing
natnurdock's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Abortion, and Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Grief
abbruzzese's review
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You’ll always be sad about this. But it doesn’t mean you made the wrong choice. It’s just something that you have to carry.
one of the cardinal rules of writing is that the first page—the first sentence, even—is supposed to hook your readers. this book did not do that, but i am so glad i stuck it out and kept going! this book is good! the plot is always moving & it was the perfect subway read because it was easy to pick up wherever i left off.
now, for the characters...
- pearl & mia are perfect. i loved them. wouldn't change a thing.
- lexie & izzy were okay characters, but it def felt like they were plot-movers if not their own people.
- trip felt sooo forgotten as a character, would have loved to see him incorporated into the plot more.
- mr. richardson was replaceable. he had one somewhat important role in the story and even then, it could have easily been written with anyone else & not changed a thing.
- mrs. richardson made me want to break fucking necks. but i guess that means she was well-written?
- and finally, moody...
girl what the hell happened? he's a sweetheart, he disappears from the plot, and then he turns back up as an asshole? how does he go from <i>"he would crack dumb jokes and tell stories and dredge up bits of trivia, anything to make her smile"</i> to <i>"i thought you were smarter than the sluts who usually agree to do it with him. but i guess not.”</i> ??? celeste ng, please explain wtf you were trying to accomplish with this regressive development bc i am NOT having it. i could maybe understand moody's bitterness over pearl liking trip if the brotherly conflict arc had been explored <s>at all</s> a little more, but it wasn't, so this whole sibling jealousy thing comes out of fucking NOWHERE.
anyway, other than my nitpicky critiques of the characters, i enjoyed this book! i might have to take a peek at what else celeste ng has written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Racism, Infertility, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
nadia_luq's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Abortion, Car accident, Infertility, Grief, Miscarriage, and Racism
Moderate: Kidnapping and Fire/Fire injury